


blue base

by bystander



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Idols, Emotional Constipation, Infidelity, M/M, Major Character Injury, Past Child Abuse, Slow Burn, The Precarity of Childhood Commodification, The Ruinous Nature of Fame, Underage Drinking, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27927736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bystander/pseuds/bystander
Summary: “Nobody well-adjusted lasts inentertainment, baby,” murmurs Renjun. It’s an old bitterness he keeps under wraps, but it makes itself known when he’s too tired to keep up the pretense.Chenle is watching him, pitying, but he knows as well as Renjun does that it’s true. They’d been lured in by the glamour of the industry, and allowed it to dazzle them; without that last veil of childish fancy, there’d be nothing keeping them tethered to the stage.// SM Entertainment decides to properly promote NCT DREAM. Maybe too well.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	blue base

Renjun is a dancer, but he can’t get this fucking move. He’s been repeating it in different iterations for three hours, but he can’t find satisfaction in the way his pivots or how his arms slice the air. It’s technically correct, but it doesn’t have that extra push that characterizes his movements. Grace, power, how to express it in his scrawny fifteen year old body—he doesn’t have an answer to that. 

He’s been in this studio long enough that he slides over certain sections of the flooring soaked in his sweat, fog in the upper corners of the mirrors. 

“I hate this fucking place,” Renjun tells the walls. “I hate it here. I miss my mom and the neighborhood cat and the water tastes weird and I’m sick of frozen meals.”

“Then why are you here?”

It can’t be, but it is. Na Jaemin is in the doorway with a backpack and a smile. It’s neutral, like it’s how his mouth falls on his face than from any real intention.

Renjun falls silent.

Jaemin crosses the space between them and picks up the hoodie that had been left haphazard in the corner all day. 

“Sorry for interrupting your practice,” says Jaemin politely. “Good luck on your routine.” He gives a last wave and the door clicks closed. If Renjun was a snow globe, he feels shaken up, flakes never settling exactly to how they were before.

It occurs to Renjun that Jaemin probably doesn’t know his name, for all that he’s been here for months. 

_Then why are you here?_

“Fuck,” exhales Renjun. He mops his brow and settles into the steps once more.

**Author's Note:**

> i could never lie to myself or to you / i'm waiting for you to come back  
> i picture you in the waves / and pull you like gravity to my shore
> 
> i draw your vague silhouette / on the blue base of the ocean  
> looks like you haven't changed at all / this is where you left your scent
> 
> -wish you were here (superm)


End file.
